Wildlife relying on early successional vegetation have declined in the Northeastern United States over the last century as land was converted to agriculture or developed land. Once abundant, native New England Cottontail rabbits (NEC, Sylvagus transitionalis), experienced population decreases, and are now a Candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act, and are a Species of Special Concern in New York. Loss of dense understory habitat and invasion of the Eastern Cottontail, (EC, Sylvagus floridanus) have been implicated as potential drivers in this decline. Previous research led to suggestions that management for NEC with EC in the same system included creating core areas of patches in fragmented habitats, and creating disturbance regimes in more intact habitat, to create early successional vegetation.

New York has some of the largest tracts of continuous high quality habitat left within the NEC historic range, and habitat restoration plans have been made by the state in several key state parks and properties. Implementation of these plans await site-specific and regional data that would guide management protocols and allow prediction of the efficacy of restoration for recovery of NEC in NY.

Our goal is to provide information on 1. the relationship between habitat variables, patch occupancy by NEC, and NEC fitness, including predator effects2. the predicted effects of EC on NEC colonization and persistence in restored areas3. comparative nutritional plane of NEC using native and non-native vegetation4. parasite-mediated competition with EC.

This project will support 1 PhD and one MS student studying habitat and fitness relationships, and parasite mediated competition and nutrition, respectively. The project is funded through the state for a period of four years.